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Audrey Landers
|birth_place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |series = Dallas (first series) |occupation = Actress |yearsactive = 1971-present |website = http://www.landerssisters.net/ }}Audrey Landers (born July 18, 1956) is the actress who plays Afton Cooper on Dallas. Early Years Audrey was born Audrey Hamburg in Philadelphia, PA. There are several different references as to her birthdate, cited as 1956, 1958, and 1960, and a passport with a 1959 date of birth. Landers began her acting career at the age of 9, when she starred in her first community theater musical, and continued acting and singing in community theater shows in New York State. Music was always a passion, and Landers began writing poetry and songs at a very young age. Landers was first noticed with a country song that she wrote and performed at the age of twelve, which led to a Nashville recording contract with Epic Records, a performance on the Merv Griffin show, and a year-long role on the daytime drama, The Secret Storm. During her teen years, she acted on the daytime drama Somerset and studied music at the Juilliard School in New York, while majoring in psychology at Columbia University. Her feature film debut came in The Tennessee Stallion (1978) with her sister, Judy Landers. Career Landers moved to Los Angeles and on her 21st birthday, landed the role of Afton Cooper in Dallas, which she held for 84 episodes, from 1981 though the TV movie Dallas: J.R. Returns in 1996. She took a leave of absence from Dallas to portray "Val" in the film version of A Chorus Line (1985). From 1990–1992, she played the role of "Charlotte Hesser", eldest daughter of upstate Pennsylvania mob boss Carlo Hesser on the ABC daytime series One Life to Live. Before joining Dallas, she guest-starred in a number of television shows, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Fantasy Island, Love Boat, and television movies such as Jackie Collins Lucky Chances, The Hitchhiker, and many others. Ghost Writer, a cult classic film, is a Ruth Landers production that both Audrey and Judy starred in. California Casanova, also a Ruth Landers Production, showcased Audrey's musical skills, as a singer and as a music composer. With her young sons as inspiration, Landers created the award-winning children's television series, The Huggabug Club, for which, in addition to writing the scripts, she also wrote the 250+ original songs in the series. Her partner (and mother), Ruth Landers, produced the series and donated it to Public Television for its 5 year run. In 2006, she co-wrote, and co- directed the family adventure film, Circus Island, a Ruth Landers production. Landers played Veronica, the girlfriend of Bruce Campbell's character Sam, on the USA Network series Burn Notice. As a singer and composer, Landers has earned 10 gold singles, 4 gold albums and 2 platinum albums. Most are pop and disco records. Some of her biggest hits are "Manuel Goodbye", "Playa Blanca", and "Jim, Jeff & Johnny". Her multilingual (mostly German] world records include duets with renowned German singer Bernhard Brink, "Heute Habe Ich an Dich Gedacht" and "Mi Amor" with Camilo Sesto. Her albums released in Europe from 2006 through 2011 are also in several languages. Landers is guiding the career of her teenage son, Daniel Landers, who, at the age of 17, is already an accomplished songwriter, singer and performer. Landers' business partner (and mother) Ruth Landers have created a fashion line called Landers STAR Collection which is gaining global popularity through QVC UK,and in Italy, Canada, Germany, and the U.S. Audrey Landers often performs live in German Television, recently for 6 August 2011. Family Ties Audrey Landers is the mother of Daniel Landers, who is an actor/ singer/songwriter and recording artist, having competed in Europe's XFactor. Audrey is sister of actress Judy Landers, and has acted with her in several roles, including multiple episodes of The Love Boat as well as Circus Island and Ghost Writer, films produced by Ruth Landers. Audrey and Judy Landers were on the cover and in a non-nude pictorial of the January 1983 issue of Playboy. Audrey, Judy, and their mother, Ruth jointly created the award-winning musical children's television series The Huggabug Club for PBS from 1995–2000. Audrey co-wrote the 250 original songs in the series. She also co-wrote the scripts and co-edited the series. In 2005–2006, Audrey co-wrote and co-directed the family feature film Circus Island. Landers married businessman Donald Berkowitz in May 1988. They have 2 children, twins Adam and Daniel, born in 1993. External links *Her Official Website *Landers Sisters Fansite Category:First Series Cast Category:Actresses